The Prince and the Pensieve
by sevsnape7
Summary: Harry, deciding it is impossible for him to trust Snape based on Dumbledore's judgment alone, hatches a plan with Ron and Hermione to search the Professor's memories for signs of betrayal. But is he prepared for what he might find?


A/N: This starts off in the middle of Harry's fifth year. Everything leading up to that will be mostly unchanged with the exception of a few minor details. The only inconsistency in this chapter is that Hermione never quit Divinations after third year. A few other things may or may not come up as I go along. Otherwise, it'll go off on its own path from here and be quite different from the books.

Just an idea that came to me that I had to jot down… hope you enjoy and be sure to let me know what you think!

I don't own anything.

X

Harry slowly ascended the steps to the Gryffindor common room. He was relieved to find it abandoned at this late hour, save Ron and Hermione, who were talking in hushed voices at the far corner of the room. A few enchanted candles allowed just enough light to direct his path, and he crossed the room to join them, mentally preparing himself for the onslaught of questions that was sure to follow.

"Harry!" Hermione was the first to notice his presence. "We expected you back far earlier… We had almost given up and went to bed." She regretfully admitted. "Although I'd be the last to defend the validity of the subject, we do have Divinations in the morning…"

"Forget that." Ron cut in. "How was tonight's Occlumency lesson? Has that miserable git been treating you any better?"

Harry lowered himself onto the armchair that was stationed directly across from the sofa where his two friends were seated suspiciously close to one another. He took a moment to answer, massaging his temples purposely. "Snape was horrible, but that's to be expected. I might as well just jot down every horrid and personal thing that's ever happened to me and hand it over to him as homework. It'd be the same difference."

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione's concern was evident on her soft features. "I know this is hard for you, but if Dumbledore thinks it's important for you to learn—"

"Funny, isn't it? Dumbledore has all but denied my existence this year, but somehow still manages to make life-altering decisions for me?" Harry didn't even try to hide the resentment in his tone.

Ron and Hermione exchanged uncertain glances. It was clear to Harry that neither of them knew what to say to reassure him regarding Dumbledore's seemingly deliberate absence from his life. Not willing the uncomfortable silence to go on any longer, Harry continued. "Snape told me tonight that my aptitude for Occlumency was even worse than potions."

"Occlumency is a very advanced subject, Harry." Hermione chimed in before Harry could get too down on himself. "It takes even the brightest of wizards years to master. You're only a few sessions in…"

"But that's just it, Hermione. True, it takes most years to _master_. Still, I've endured weeks worth of Snape all but attacking my mind and haven't improved at all. Snape told me."

"Face it mate, Snape wouldn't give you credit if you killed you-know-who himself. I'm sure you're doing a lot better than you think."

Harry sighed in agitation at Ron's continued failure to use Voldemort's real name, but Ron didn't seem to notice.

"He's right. Professor Snape has never given me anything but ridicule either, but I still achieve an O in Potions every assignment."

"How long do you think she was waiting to slip that into the conversation?" Ron said to Harry, a small smirk playing on his lips.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "What I mean is, not even Professor Snape can deny the results when they're right in front of his face. You'll get there, Harry."

"But what if…" Harry began hesitantly, knowing his friends (well, Hermione anyway) would immediately contradict him. "What if Snape doesn't _want _me to learn."

As expected, Hermione opened her mouth to refute, but Harry immediately continued before she could follow through.

"Please. Hear me out. We've been at it for weeks and all Snape has done is pry into my mind. For all I know, he could be sifting through it, searching for something useful…" The faraway look in Harry's eyes as he said this made it clear that he had been thinking about this for some time and just now had the nerve to relay it to his two best friends.

"But why—"

Harry's eyes met Hermione's with a cold stare and she could immediately tell where he was getting at. Ron looked back and forth between the two, waiting for further information.

"I know what you're thinking, Harry, but Dumbledore trusts—"

"Dumbledore trusts Snape, I know. But Dumbledore isn't perfect. He's made mistakes… He told me himself. And if there's even the slightest chance that he could be wrong about this… I just need to be sure."

Hermione sighed. "I understand that, Harry. You're the one who needs to trust Snape if you're to be dangling your mind in front of him so often… But I still think it's time for you to accept that Dumbledore knows something about Snape that we don't. I just don't see another way to confirm his loyalties."

Harry considered this for a moment. Dumbledore surely was the wisest wizard he knew. In the past, Harry had unfailingly taken the older man's words and advice as truth. However, he couldn't exactly bring up the subject of Snape to Dumbledore now when he had been absent all year with few exceptions. He hadn't even bothered to follow up and see how Occlumency lessons were going when he had been the one to order them in the first place. Finally, Harry looked up at his friends. "Snape has a pensieve." He said decidedly.

He knew that Ron and Hermione were familiar with the magical term. Though neither had actually seen one, Harry had explained his experience with Dumbledore's pensieve the prior year during the Tri-Wizard Tournament… About how he had seen the memory of Barty Crouch, Jr. and his fellow death eaters being convicted and sentenced to Azkaban.

"What are you saying, mate?" Ron spoke up for the first time in a while. "You want to have a go at the old bloke's memories?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Harry confirmed. "I've seen him… When I arrive at his office for Occlumency lessons. He's always hovering over it. I know he's hiding something in there."

"But Harry… Pensieves are very rare and expensive magical objects. How can you be sure that he's not just borrowing Dumbledore's?" Hermione said. She paused for a moment, then hesitantly continued. "You haven't exactly spent much time with Dumbledore in his office this year … You wouldn't be able to confirm…"

"It's different." Harry cut in. "His is smaller, more compact than Dumbledore's. Snape has his own pensieve in his office. I'm sure of it."

There was a brief moment of silence as the three of them considered the implications of this. Ron was the first to speak. "But if Snape had his memories just out in the open like that… Couldn't Dumbledore just confirm his loyalties for himself? Maybe that's what he knows about Snape that nobody else does."

"It's called _trust, _Ronald." Hermione said exasperatedly, the late hour making her short-tempered. "And it wouldn't permit the invasion of privacy. Dumbledore wouldn't do that… I know he wouldn't."

"She's right." Harry said. "Which is why I have to see for myself. The stakes are too high not to."

Hermione sighed. "Moral implications aside, the idea is too far-fetched. There are too many variables."

"Leave it to Hermione to turn it into a science experiment." Ron didn't even bother to stifle his groan.

She chose to ignore him. "Even if we somehow managed to get into Professor Snape's office without his awareness, which I might add would be a feat on its own, the pensieve isn't necessarily going to show you exactly what you want to see, Harry. You could be sifting through countless trivial memories before coming across anything of significance… There's no telling how long it would take… And to return everything to its rightful place…"

"I know!" Harry replied, growing agitated. "Look, I know, ok? But I've got to try. It's the only way for me to know if the man who is supposedly teaching me Occlumency is really just using the opportunity to get information for Voldemort." He paused for effect. Ron flinched at the name, but Hermione surprisingly remained calm. "I know Dumbledore trusts him, but I can't. Not yet. I've got to know for myself. I know it's risky… I wouldn't expect either of you to put yourselves at risk. Just don't stop me. Please."

Harry allowed himself a few calming breaths. His words had came out somewhat jumbled and haphazardly, but his main point was in there and he knew his friends would understand. He was surprised when Hermione reached across the coffee table and took one of his hands in both of her own. "Of course we will do everything we can to help you. It'll require a bit of planning… And I'll have to do some research on pensieves…" she trailed off.

"Yeah, mate. We've been through quite a lot together, did you really think we'd abandon you now?"

Harry looked up at them sheepishly.

"Besides," Ron added. "A glimpse into Snape's mind, terrifying as it sounds, can't be as bad as the chamber of secrets or Aragog's family of hungry spiders."

"Thanks... Both of you." Harry felt genuinely lucky to have such loyal friends.

"Well, I know Divination's a sham, but I foresee us all sleeping through class tomorrow if we don't get some rest now." Hermione said, standing up and collecting her books and parchment, which laid previously abandoned on the coffee table.

"Funny, I make that same prediction every day." Ron stood up as well but, unlike Hermione, had far less schoolwork to collect.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "We can talk more about Snape tomorrow. And Harry," her eyes landed sternly on him. "Don't do anything rash. Professor Snape is a very clever man. We'll need to plan our actions carefully."

"I won't." Harry promised. He knew that Snape was a gifted wizard and would be a fool to take this mission lightly. "'Night Hermione."

"'Night Harry… Ron." She disappeared up the stairway that led to the girl's dormitory.

"I suppose we should probably get up to bed, too…" Harry started.

"Yes, I suppose so." Ron seemingly agreed. There was a short pause. "A game of wizard's chess, mate?"

"Definitely."

X

A few days later, Ron, Harry and Hermione were sitting at a secluded table in the library. It was a Saturday afternoon, so very few students were around anyway, save the extremely dedicated.

Hermione had been reading up on pensieves and, after a bit of research, learned the wand movements for placing and extracting memories. "It's too bad we don't have one to practice with." She had said. "This is all just theory, really… I hope it will help when it counts. At least we can be thankful that we only wish to view someone else's memories. Retrieving and encasing your own is where the really complicated magic lies."

"Right." Harry said. Though it had only been three days since their late night discussion in the common room, he was getting anxious and ready to move on from the researching stage. As long as they were careful not to misplace any of Snape's memories, he knew that the pensieve wouldn't be their main objective. Hermione was thorough in her research and seemed confident enough. The real issue here would be getting into Snape's office during his departure and ensuring against a premature return.

"I think the most advantageous time for us would be Monday afternoon." Hermione went on. "Snape has double N.E.W.T. potions followed by a staff meeting. "

"Wait a minute…" A look of realization dawned on Ron's face. "Monday afternoon, eh? Wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that all we'd have to skip is Divinations?"

Hermione feigned innocence. "A happy coincidence."

"How'd you know about the staff meeting?" Harry asked.

"I stayed late yesterday to ask Professor Flitwick a question. McGonagall came in while I was there to tell him… Being teacher's pet does have its benefits you know."

"So that gives us two days to finalize our plan." Harry deduced.

"Yes, well, I have a few ideas…" Hermione started.

"Of course you do." Ron cut in. "I'd be bloody surprised if you didn't have it planned out to the point of our wardrobe selections for the day."

"We'll wear dark clothes under our robes, of course." Hermione replied, as if it was obvious and Ron hadn't been teasing her sarcastically. "Snape's office is located in the dungeons, so we'll want to blend in as much as possible. We'll have Harry's invisibility cloak, too, but it's important to take every measure possible…"

"Wait a second, Hermione," Harry glanced around the library as he had been doing every few minutes or so. He couldn't afford to have anyone overhear. "Snape's office is adjacent to his classroom. Wouldn't during his class session be the worst time to do this? He could easily pop into his office for a forgotten ingredient or even a quill or—"

"Usually that would be a huge obstacle, Harry, but as luck would have it Snape's potions class will be working in the greenhouses on Monday."

"Greenhouses, but why—?"

"I was talking to Becky Arncliffe of Ravenclaw… Very smart girl. Anyway, she's in Snape's N.E.W.T. class and she mentioned that they were moving on to Herbicide Potion and, as a favor to Professor Sprout, would be practicing on unwanted plants and weeds in the greenhouses."

"I didn't know Snape did people favors." Ron mused.

"_Professor _Snape, Ron." Hermione admonished. "You musn't get into the habit of calling him Snape… It's disrespectful."

"Whatever," Harry cut in. "_Professor _Snape will be away from the dungeons. Brilliant."

"Yes and I'm hoping that the isolation of his office will prevent him from returning to it prior to the staff meeting, but we must be prepared for anything." She paused. "Which is why… And you know I don't typically condone the use of it, Harry, but—"

"The map." Harry interrupted. "Of course."

"I thought that you, Ron, could keep an eye on the map… make sure we don't have unwanted company. It's not just Professor Snape that we have to worry about, you know. Umbridge, for one, has been keeping a close eye on the lot of us. Although it would be unusual to find her in the dungeons…"

"I can do that." Ron agreed.

"Right." Hermione said. "And Harry, I'll help you all I can with the pensieve, but I must warn you I'm no expert…"

"You've done brilliantly already." Harry assured her. "More than I ever could've hoped for."

Hermione allowed a small smile of recognition before continuing in her serious manner. "I'll do my best to keep Snape's memories orderly so you can focus on viewing them and finding… whatever it is that you need to find."

Harry nodded, relieved that it was all coming together.

"Which really just leaves the matter of getting into his office. A private person like Snape surely has taken many measures to prevent unwanted visitors." At this, she seemed a little deflated, as if it were the only component of her master plan that she couldn't plan or prepare for in some way.

"But you've done it before." Harry reminded her. "Our second year… When you needed ingredients for the polyjuice potion…"

Hermione sighed. "Yes, well it wasn't easy then either… And after that incident… And with Dobby stealing the gillyweed last year… We can only assume that Snape has increased his security measures. We won't know until Monday, though."

"You're the best person with spells that I know, Hermione." Ron reassured her. "I'm sure nothing that an old dunderhead like Snape could come up with would be able to stop you."

Hermione smiled, in spite of the fact that Ron had resorted to insulting a professor in his attempt to encourage her. "Well then, now that we've got everything all sorted out, I think I'll begin my Charms essay. Professor Flitwick gave me brilliant advice yesterday afternoon and I've been eager to begin my research…" She paused at Harry and Ron's polite albeit bored expressions. "I suppose the library is the last place the two of you want to be on a Saturday afternoon. Go on. It's a lovely day… Go visit Hagrid or something. I'll see you at dinner."

Harry and Ron were quick to take her up on her suggestion. "Thanks for everything, Hermione." Harry called over his shoulder as they retreated. He vaguely noticed her eyes widen before he turned back around to walk directly into the tall, dark figure of Professor Snape.

After what seemed an eternity, the man spoke. His voice was low and controlled, but this had nothing to do with the fact that they were in the library. "Now what would a couple of underachievers like yourselves..." He paused, eyeing Ron meaningfully. "Be doing in the library on a Saturday afternoon… Potter?"

Harry swallowed, looking to Ron for help, but his friend just shrugged back at him helplessly. Finally, he looked back up at his Potion's Professor, wishing he knew how long he had been standing there.


End file.
